Stargate SG1 :Connections
by Saphirian Waterclaw
Summary: The galaxy is experiencing military and political tensions as the Auroran and Borialis governments engage in heated warfare. As the alliance of humanity crumbles in this galaxy and war forces neutral foreign race governments to take sides, a stargate is found. Only it's not from this galaxy. It is the rubble of a destroyed planet from ours. Rated T for violence and minor language.
1. Chapter 1 Keith's Discovery

Deep space missions were the loneliest. The only company that you got were the nine other crew members of your scout team and the sexy sounding computer informing you of any changes to your flight pattern during auto pilot. After a while it got so annoying hearing a woman's voice this far out in space that the captain "shut it down" permanently and they had one less voice to listen to. The computer's female voice sounded more like a taunt to the crew having not seen a woman in four capitol years. But for Keith it wasn't so bad. He was a fresh recruit after all. Straight from the academy on Rendon 4.

They had been patrolling for almost a capitol week and all they saw was space dust as far as the eye could see with the miraculously interesting asteroid a meter in diameter. Fontar was one of the most boring systems in the galaxy. A colony would improve the naturally uninteresting space that was cataloged as a potential mining system. Civilians were always more interesting than red cosmic dust masking everything in a redish orange haze.  
"Private. Brief overview of our current position." the captain ordered. Keith checked his monitors.  
"We've just entered the Fontar astroid belt. We are currently fifteen carsens from the rendezvous point with the Flaming Eagle." Keith replied obediently.  
"Finally " grumbled Fosten.  
"Just focus on the mission Fosten." the captain moaned.  
"Who are we kidding?" Jace asked."There's no point scouting this corner of space. We would be much more useful reporting Imperial convoys along the galactic boarder. There's nothing out here!"  
"For the love of the emperor's downfall, Focus! Keep looking for anything of interest. We need this place thoroughly cleared by Federation code before they can deploy mining units to harvest the quadsteel from these rocks. Once we're done here we can get reassigned. Until then, get back to work!"the captain said strumming his fingers on one of the arms of his command chair trying to maintain a patient attitude.  
"Come on, you think we buy that after the last eight times you said that?"asked another.  
"It was worth a shot." The captain growled.  
Seriously, we might as well be scouting the out bound moons!" Jace shrugged.  
"Sir, Jace is right. There's no point-" began one of others on the bridge.  
"Captain! I've found something!" Keith called over his shoulder.  
"Do you have a visual?" the captain asked excitedly, happy to change the subject to something of interest.  
"Yes sir, but it doesn't make sense. Nothing like this should even exist this far out."Keith replied looking back at the monitor.  
"Well, what is it?" the captain asked confused.  
"A a ring of some sort sir." Keith responded.  
"What?" Fosten asked enthralled that they had found something.  
"It's a ring. Exactly like I said. A large stone-like ring. Diameter around twelve appear to be runes spaced out every three feet. It Doesn't make sense." Keith said shaking his head.  
"Do you think we can retrieve it by towing it with magnetic tow nodes?"the captain asked leaning forward in his command chair. Keith shrugged.  
"Maybe "Keith murmured watching the ring's graphic dimensions revolving on his monitor. The ring was half way submerged in a small asteroid. The asteroid in general appeared foreign in composition. He checked it quickly for any quadsteel deposits and the results were shocking.  
None. Not even a hint of residue. The composition of the rock enveloping half of the ring consisted of foreign space dust and carbon. The asteroid was definitely not from this belt or even this entire galaxy.  
"Sir! This asteroid is completely foreign to this entire belt! The readings are completely off the charts in unrecognizable areas! High concentrations of oxygen residue, extreme levels of carbon scaring, and unrecognizable elements concentrated in the ring." Keith announced. The captain nodded and pressed a command on the touch screen fixed into one of the arms of his seat.  
"Flaming Eagle, this is scout team 41522. We have discovered a large foreign ring that appears to have originated from a foreign galaxy based on it's atomic composition. Request for escort retrieval." the captain said stroking his chin.  
"Roger scout team 41522. Retrieval escort on approach." one of the communications officers responded.  
"Roger Flaming Eagle. Over and out,"the captain acknowledged before smiling to Keith"This could get you a promotion. I wonder if I could get you registered into fighter patrol for a Flag ship."  
That made Keith smile. The best thing that a scout could hear for a promotion was enlistment into a flagship patrol squad pilot. They got their own private fighters, patrolled high combat areas along the heavily populated boarder and had any number of a hundred other people on inter com. Sure there was the risk of getting killed but from there was the of promotion. And that always led to higher places, or at least anything better than this lonely little job patrolling outer rim systems and discovering unknown nooks and crannies of oddly shaped asteroids. If this fell through then he would be one step closer in this galaxy to being somebody. What he didn't know was that he would be more than just somebody in his galaxy. He would be known in yet another galaxy as well.


	2. Chapter 2 Ancient Alien Transporter

The entire flagship was abuzz as the patrol ship landed in the hanger bay. Outside the ship, Fighters were systematically activating magnets on their ships to move the rock covered ring into the cargo bay through the overhead dividing roof doors. Keith was in the cargo bay as the asteroid chunk was carefully lowered in from above. When the rock hunk had finally settled in the large quadsteel room, archeologists swarmed onto the rock and began chiseling away at the rock almost lovingly. Keith shook his head. They could get rather obsessive about their work when left to it.

Keith didn't excel in their field. He was more forceful and militant than they could ever be capable of. And yet he did have experience in fields outside of rash double digit instincts that other scouts seemed limited to. He actually had a broad capability for understanding other races and civilizations. He and his friend Jefraim had discovered the Azulite, a race of people whose technology consisted of crystalline structures. They had large vertically ovular eyes their skin color ranged from blue to green to even purple. They were rather militant at first sight, but after a while of negotiations between Keith and Jefraim and the Azulite, they discovered that the Azulite presented themselves like that as a form of defense against other more warlike civilizations. Jefraim was able to reassure them that the Auroran Federation was interested in a peaceful relationship. Although Jefraim was given most of the credit since he had been enlisted in the service for longer than Keith, they were considered equally responsible for the act in the eyes of the Azulite. Keith was more noteable overall however because although he was extremely militant, he resorted to negotiation before combat action. He was dedicated to serving the Azulite as a friend where he could. His firm yet gentle disposition was highly respected by their society. He was often called to represent the Azulite armed forces nations, a series of Azulite galactic nations dedicated to carrying out the defense and warfare entanglements that the society may encounter.

Keith wasn't as interested in foreign discovery as Jefraim was. That was why he joined the star combat division of the Auroran Federation military and Jefraim joined the foreign species biological and political research division. Living half of his life on board a lab station was not exactly Keith's idea of a worth while military occupation. And then again, to each their own.

Keith turned to see Jefraim walk in through a pair of sliding armor doors and waved him over. Jefraim nodded and strode over to him, his grey lab coat billowing behind him. Jefraim was famous for wearing his combat issue armored vest under a lab coat that had seen more days being frayed by weapons fire than preventing spill damage from acidic chemicals. Regardless, you could always spot him in a crowd since he was typically th one everyone was glancing at over their shoulders.  
"Look what the hound found. I came as soon as I heard,"Jefraim said looking slightly winded."Apparently according to your captain, you were the one who found it."  
"More like I'm the only one who could have found it. I was the only one watching their monitor. The others were too busy harping on the captain to get the crew reassigned to even have a hope of spotting it." Keith sighed. Jefraim chuckled.  
"Still busy proving a seventeen year old can operate just as well as any other enlisted man aren't you?" Jefraim asked phrasing it like a statement. Keith shook his head grinning.  
"I'm just trying to do my job." he said trying to avoid the subject."So, did anyone on deck have any ideas about what the ring might be or where it could be from?"  
"No just rumors. We're certain it's not an ancient Pri'yin artifact because the symbols are far to graceful. It's definitely not Azulite, they never make anything out of rock preferring crystal as their only useable substance for literally anything. The Starlighter only construct their objects out of bio-materials that can self repair their own damage. Why, I'm tempted to say that this object isn't even from our galaxy!" Jefraim said pacing around the work pointing out the obvious characteristics as he listed them.  
"You're kidding right?" Keith asked sceptically.  
"Now why would I do such a thing like that? You know I have no sense of humor." Jefraim said sarcastically.  
"I believe the girls in the bar back on Carthis Prime would disagree with you on that."Keith said smugly.  
"Are you seriously bringing that up here of all places?"Jefraim asked raising an eyebrow.  
"I didn't say anything!"Keith responded defensively.  
"Good."Jefraim said trying to put on an air of finality to the way he said it.  
"See, it was you who were saying some of the most obnoxious things to those girls-"  
"Oh shut up!" Jefraim moaned.  
"Honestly, what you said about how lovely the one girl's hair smelled was true poetry."  
"I said Shut Up! That kind of means something to the tune of 'stop talking'."Jefraim said as his patience began to wane.  
"Alright, so what do you think this thing is then?"Keith asked accepting the change of subject.  
"Well... see the thing is... it's just..."Jefraim said scratching the back of his neck.  
"Yeah, what?"Keith asked trying to get him to get to the point.  
"Well, the other guys don't think so, but I can't stop thinking that it's an ancient alien transporter!" Jefraim said shrugging.  
"Seriously. A Transporter? It doesn't even look like a starship. Unless it's a cruiser of some sort for microscopic crew who fire atomic guns." Keith said folding his arms.  
"Not a ship. A portal. Like our Sector Jumpers. Only for individual use."Jefraim said.  
"I guess I can see it. But I don't see how we could use it. We don't have a clue on how to operate the thing."Keith said shaking his head.  
"Hello gentlemen." said a decently decorated general. His grey hair was short and his stark shaven face seemed to give off an air of "I could kill you with my bare hands but I'll have my subordinates shoot you.". His uniform matched the standard issue that Keith wore; aquamarine camouflage with a navy blue armored vest, an automatic short barrel laser assault rifle in a holster on his back, spider steel boots (boots made of spider silk as strong as steel only four times lighter) that came up to his shins, and com unit strapped onto his forearm. He had ripped the sleeves off of his military issue camo short sleeved infantry shirt sporting an impressive military tattoo that had a mirror image on his other shoulder. His name was Crag Hagen only the soldiers commonly referred to him as Commander Rip Shoulders since he had killed a famous imperial marine by literally ripping their arms off of when they had each run out of ammunition and resorted to pummeling each other."What have you found scout?" he asked pointing at the ring.  
"Well I'm not sure really. Jefraim thinks it's a portal or transporting gate but I'm not sure."Keith replied nonchalantly.  
"Well if Jefraim thinks it's a transporter, does he have any idea of how to activate it?" the commander said looking to Jefraim. Jefraim smiled sadly with his hands in his coat pockets.  
"I'm not sure about that much. But I am certain we can crack the code of those runes around the ring. However I'm going to need some help. And I know exactly who to ask." Jefraim answered snapping his fingers and turning to leave. Keith shrugged and turned to follow him but Commander Hagen caught him by the shoulder.  
"Keith, if this thing falls through and we find out how to use the transporter, if it is a transporter, I'd like you and Jefraim to head the expedition into unknown space. If there's anyone who can negotiate with foreign unknown creatures, it would be you." Rip Shoulders whispered into his ear.  
"That sure is a lot of ifs but thanks for the honor." Keith nodded and walked out of through the armor sliding doors into the bustling hallway being traversed heavily by pilots and marines as with a straight postured officer here or there. People will always be people.


	3. Chapter 3 Translating an Unseen Language

When Jefraim had an idea, Keith knew what it was. And this idea was one of the easier ones to understand. When it came to translating a language or code that had no visible context there were only two people they could turn to. Royce and Teh'kor. They were a pair of scientists who seemed to fit each other like neighboring pieces of a puzzle. Ever since they first met, they seemed to talk like a pair of old friends who hadn't seen each other in years. Teh'kor was a starlighter who was fond of understanding and decoding codes and languages. Royce was a soft spoken human encyclopedia who was sixteen, two years younger than Jefraim and one year younger than Keith. However Teh'kor was thirty something but as far as starlighter years went, he was Royce's age in maturity.

Starlighters were the first race discovered when humanity began to expand. Their technology consisted of dark green organic compounds that could mend themselves. Their ships and weapons were actually animals in a sense. When Starlighter pilots were born, they were introduced to their infant ship that grew up along side them for the rest of their lives. Over time they would be capable of understanding one another so well that they could predict and understand what the other one was thinking and planning. They had strong connections to their biological creations. Even their space stations were massive animals. Their entire society depended on one Starlighter themselves had fur covered legs with hooves and their upper bodies were pale white and hairless. They had slender narrow faces with long slender pointed ears. Their weapons ranged from long and slender rifles to simple hand to hand combat spears. They had backwards knees and three fingers on each hand.

Keith walked into the laboratory where Royce, Jefraim and Teh'kor were pouring over images of runes and symbols taken of the ring. They were already figuring out some of the simpler runes and were moving on to the more difficult symbols.  
"How did you get so far so quickly without any references to the language?" Keith asked slightly stunned. Teh'kor smiled slightly.  
"Well, we actually do have a reference. Do you remember how the ancient Pri'yin traveled throughout the universe searching for a new galaxy to settle down in permanently? well along the way they chronicled all of the civilizations they encountered as well as their languages. Coincidentally they crossed paths with the architects of one of these 'stargates', referred to as the Ancients by the races that neighbored it. Anyway, there was enough information to decode half of that ring. We're almost done but there's one thing for sure," Teh'kor said.  
"It's part of a transportation network alright."Royce finished grinning. Teh'kor's smile just broadened. He was rather bashful for a starlighter. The Starlighter had strict rules for their warriors, and any nature outside of solemn was considered a flaw and those who had such flaws were prohibited from military enlistment. That was probably why he joined the Auroran Federation. The Aurorans were the only humans who accepted outside race recruitment into their military. The Empire however refused any outside citizenship. They believed that their race of humans were superior to all other beings regardless of the Pri'yin's society.  
"Do you think we can use it?"Keith asked.  
"If we can figure out how to energize it, sure." Jefraim shrugged.  
"But that is sure gonna take some time."Royce mentioned.  
"How long do you think it will take?"Keith asked.  
"Anywhere from three hours to three weeks. You just can't tell when something may click in the understanding of a code really." Teh'kor said shrugging and picking up a data pad sliding a broad stubby finger across it.  
"Can I help at all?" Keith asked openly.  
"No. This is more tedious than I think you could handle."Jefraim grinned. Keith smiled. Both of them knew he was too much of a man of action to be patient with such a tedious job as cracking a code.  
"I'll be on the bridge if you need me."Keith said before walking out of the door back into the network of busy hallways. He kind of liked it here. Wherever you looked people were everywhere. Some even had time to make small talk when they didn't have work to attend to. Keith took his time walking to the bridge taking a lazy stop at the bar for a while even though he never got a drink.

Finally he came to the bridge. It was a decent sized room with a command chair in the middle and four subcommand chairs at every corner in their own pod. The pod shape was decorative more than anything else and was submerged halfway into the floor. Rip Shoulders was slouched in the command chair in the middle, resting his head in the palm of his hand.  
"Any news from below?" the commander asked tiredly.  
"Eh, they're getting there. Seems too slow for me but scientists are what they are." Keith said shrugging.  
"Funny, you talk about them like you aren't one. And everyone thinks Jefraim is the soldier at heart." Rip Shoulders chuckled.  
"It's not that I don't like being part of the science division, it's just, I want to be a lot more than that. I want to rise through the ranks. I want to be somebody big in this galaxy, not Jefraim's side kick." Keith said trying hard not to sound oppressed. Rip Shoulders saw right through it.  
"You don't like being the little brother in your friendship, do you?" He asked understanding Keith's right off the bat. Keith sighed and nodded.  
"Kid I've seen plenty of recruits in my time, but you top the ladder. You graduate top of your class in fighter to fighter combat from the academy, can shoot straighter than some marines, had enough sheer guts to tackle a politician at a press conference," -Keith's checks went red-" and lets not forget that you were the one to assist the Azulite in preventing civil war. But in light of all this you have the gall to be jealous of a scientist who has less brawn in his body than you do in your left arm all because he has a bigger name than you do." Rip Shoulders said smiling. Keith ran a hand through his light brown hair and sighed. As usual, Rip Shoulders had a point. Keith just didn't like seeing it.  
"What should I do then?" Keith asked sucking up as much courage as he could muster.  
"Well,"the commander began," The Federation want's some new faces on the front line. The Borialis are mobilizing to our galactic south. I'm positioning you temporarily on Kythos under the Maximus Warship 'AFS Reigning Maiden'. You will be engaging in heavy boarder skirmishes around that system. The commander of the ship is an old friend of mine, Commander Rigid Back. I'll send him a request to pull you back to Sen'tral when we are ready to begin the expedition. Until then, enjoy your post." Keith's ears perked up.  
"I'm going to be deployed sir?" Keith asked eagerly.  
"That you are kid." the commander said grinning broadly.  
"Th-thank you sir! Thank you very much! You won't regret this!" Keith stuttered running out of the bridge. Crag smiled. Good kid. Better soldier.


	4. Chapter 4 The heats

Sirens wailed as Keith ran through the hallway. Overhead the sexy computer voice was relaying orders.  
"All units report to battle stations. Prepare to engage Imperial Borialis forces. This not a drill. Repeat; this is not a drill. All pilots report to you fighters. Borialis forces will be arriving in ten." it echoed throughout the entire battleship.  
"Geez, ya'd think a voice that sexy would have a body that could win this war." said one of the pilots running by.  
"You know, I heard they use those attractive voices just to unconsciously increase morale." said another.  
"Hey Keith! Wait up soldier!" Keith's wing man, Castor, called waving him over. Castor was like a twin brother to Keith. They had the same skill at piloting fighters, tied most of their shooting range competitions, and thought alike so much they executed most of their formations simultaneously without any warning to one or the other.  
"Hey Castor,"Keith said slowing down so Castor could catch up."you think this is another routine combat engagement?"  
"Aren't they all routine engagements? First they show up before breakfast, they slam us again after lunch and before sleep period they throw another load of battleships into the fray. I think they're already beginning a routine." Castor joked.  
"It's like the only peace and quiet we're allowed is supper." Keith mentioned as they emerged into the Hanger bay. Pilots and mechanics scrambled throughout the hanger to ships preparing for take off.  
"Well how thoughtful of them. They left us some time to catch our breathe." Castor stated unimpressed.  
"Then I guess it's our job to knock the breathe out of them huh?" Keith said grinning savagely as climbed into his cockpit. Keith strapped himself in and fired up the ship flipping one row of switches after another. The cockpit hatch was still up as he sped through the take off routine.  
"That we should Keith. You take all of those battleships and I'll take a couple of fresh recruits barely into their fighters off of the hands of the imperial navy. That sounds fair now doesn't it?" Castor said putting on his helmet.  
"In your dreams Castor. I'll take out the battleships AND the fighters leaving YOU in the DUST!" Keith replied.  
"Challenge accepted soldier!" Castor said back before his cockpit closed shut. Keith shook his head. _Challenge accepted indeed_ Keith thought as he closed his own cockpit hatch.

His ship was a standard issue Argel-248. The two wings folded back from the front during take off carrying a hundred decicarsen laser cannon on each wing. The wings were angled downwards. The Cockpit was situated in the middle at the back of the craft with a broad tip at the front. It was exciting watching the fighters rise up and turn out of the hanger bay. It was a lot more fun when you were in one of the cockpits. The first time they had launched, Keith was a little scared. Then again, he was rather innocent and faint hearted back then. Now he was more seasoned and had a lot more back bone than most of the other recruits in this sector. And back bone was what kept a soldier, pilot, or marine alive in this galaxy. Hold your own and you were considered being rather successful and doing quite well. Anything else was more often than not, dead or dying. All of the monitors and holographic dials lit up filling the cockpit with an eerie blue light.

"All fighters prepare for launch. Mechanics please clear the hanger bay. Enemy forces arriving in four decimerts. Repeat; enemy forces arriving in four decimerts." the sexy voice announced over the intercom. Keith shook his head. He could see why the captain had given it the boot. In a military, it was almost cruel listening to it. The few female enlisted service members were prime for the attention of at least twenty men desperate to court them. Rather sad really. That's why he never tried to court any.

Engines rumbled and roared to as the fighters in the bay glided out onto the tracks. The tracks were a system of conveyor belts that had hooks on every link. The hooks latched onto the bottoms of the fighters and lined them up into two rows since there were two tracks. When all of the ships were in position the tracks, the conveyor belts whipped forward at alarming speeds deploying all fighters almost instantly one after another. A rapid deployment system of sorts.

"Launch commencing. All pilots stand by." the female voice announced finally and a new set of engines roared to life. These engines lasted for around five seconds and then the conveyor belt engaged with the gears jolting all of the fighters out of hanger sending them roaring into defensive formations. On other battleships throughout the system, fighters were fanning out in all directions. The combat would be intense. There would be over 400 Maximus warships, a thousand battleships, tens of thousands of destroyers, hundreds of thousands of gunboats, and at least a million frigates. The fighters were everywhere numbering in the tens of millions of squadrons of five fighters each. These numbers weren't unheard of, but they were one of the largest assemblies of naval fire power in history. The Borialis would be matching their effect man for man and gun for gun.  
"All wings form up on your leaders." Commander Rigid Back requested.  
"Squad leaders, report in." Commander Rigid Back ordered.  
"Red leader standing by."  
"Grey leader standing by."  
"Green leader falling into formation."  
"Cover here."  
"Yellow forming up."  
"Blue leader standing by for attack." Keith said checking all of his monitors. When the Borialis arrived there wouldn't be time to notice a problem. Everything seemed in proper working condition.  
"Sir! Borialis signals over Kythos 4! Only, I don't see anything." a recruit identified.  
"Watch it boy, they're jumping in!"a more seasoned pilot advised.  
"All squadrons prepare to engage enemy forces!" commander Rigid Back ordered. As if on cue, Imperial Warships escorted by squadrons of Borialis attack fighters dotted around the mass of ships. The Auroran Warships lazily came around and opened fire on the enemy fleet with a series of blue laser blasts echoing past the Auroran fighter squadron assembly. Borialis warships returned fire with green laser fire. The diameter of the blasts were equivalent to the distance of a federation fighter wing tip to wing tip and contained more than enough energy to fry the pilot inside instantaneously.  
"Enemy fighters coming in on our two and three!"another pilot announced.

"Blue squadron, this is blue leader. Follow my lead!" Keith ordered and dropped away from the fighter assembly followed by the four other fighters of blue squadron. The other Squadrons took position and mobilized against the swarm of borialis fighters that had congregated to attack in bulk force.  
"Red squadron, this is red leader. Proceed to engage enemy fighters!"red leader ordered with green and yellow squadrons following suite.  
"Sir-"  
"I heard him blue four. I am not interested in engaging those fighters. My targets are the enemy warship escorts." Keith said firmly.  
"But-"  
"Blue four, follow my lead. That's an order." Keith said cutting him off.  
"This is gonna be hot Keith." Castor said taking a deep breathe.  
"As long as we don't get too badly scalded we'll be alright. Cover me, I'm going in to take out those heavy frigates dead ahead. Blue three, four and five, If you want to turn back and try your luck with those fighters, you have my permission to do so. Its not on my head if you get yourselves blasted into oblivion."Keith said pausing to take in the order he had given.  
"Thank you sir! You won't regret this!" blue four said cheerily and fell back to engage the enemy fighters with blue three and five hot on his tail. Keith sighed.  
"I know letting them go out on their own is suicide. But there was no point forcing them to come." Castor said trying to reassure Keith he was doing the right thing.  
"Let's just focus on those frigates. If those things get too close to our battleship then they'll commence bombing runs. And our battleship is in no state to sustain against that kind of fire power after the last hit we took." Keith said focusing on the problem at hand. A formation of Borialis Frigates had formed up and proceeded to align for a bombing run. They were carrying enough fire power to give even a Fleet commander a head ache at the sight of their combined effect. Around twenty Borialis fighters were providing escort to the Frigates. They were far more advanced than the standard issue imperial fighters. These were fast and deadly. They were S-833s and were in limited supply. However they were notorious for their ability to dispatch federation fighters quickly and with little disturbance. There was a reason why they were nicknamed the "assassin wings".

"Hey look who's giving cover escort." Castor mentioned.  
"Yeah. They're gonna be a real pain. Wanna divy em' up?"Keith asked grinning.  
"Sure, I'll take the assassin wings and frigates, and you'll get... uh... you'll have to make do with that space dust over there." Castor said sarcastically.  
"Real funny Castor. I'll take those fighters on the right, you handle the ones on the left. We'll share the Frigates." Keith said.  
"Yeah... copy that." Castor replied flipping off the auto targeting systems. Keith was doing likewise. Both of them were instinctual fighter pilots. Targeting systems just got in their way.  
"You ready Keith?" Castor asked. Keith smiled savagely. Even though Castor didn't hear or see Keith smile, there was an unsaid recognition between them and they dove simultaneously towards the assassin wings. On an unsaid cue, they simultaneously opened fire on the unsuspecting assassin wings. The element of surprise would be their only advantage. They took out four fighters and a frigate in the ambush but had to break off the attack when the frigates opened fire with anti-fighter turrets. Keith pulled up and dove under a frigate to avoid the strings of laser fire following after him.

A pair of imperial fighters followed him as he tried to break off and fired on his tail. Keith pulled up and over flying upside down over the pursuit. They came around to engage. Only Castor was waiting for them. He had a pair of assassin wings on his tail as well so the two rolled past each other and took out the other's pursuers. Keith and Castor simultaneously opened fire taking out all four.  
"Haha! Eight assassin wings down for the count!" Castor cheered  
"Let's just hope they don't get a score of two." Keith replied coming around head on at the formation of frigates. He opened fire cutting one down the middle. That was the thing with Frigates. Aside from the fire power that they could muster, they were relatively pathetic. They were slow, carried little armor, were armed with only four turrets and and bomb bay. They were just fast enough to evade battleship bombardments. They were smaller and slower than gunboats and were relative sitting ducks without fighter escorts to dispatch oncoming fighters.

Castor opened fire on another frigate severing the ship in half. Three frigates destroyed. Eight fighters dispatched. Not bad for five minutes into fight. There were still twelve imperial fighters and seven frigates on the move. And they were gaining ground on the battleships closing in on the imperial fleet approaching the moons of Kythos four. Federation forces already present were getting hammered to a pulp by the incessant imperial attacks. Thrirty Federation battle ships were already smoldering and bursting apart. Two of the maximus warships had experienced substantial armor damage. Keith had to shut off the open com so that he wouldn't have to hear the unceasing screams for help. There was no telling how many fighters had been destroyed. They were the most prone to destruction. Only Castor and Keith could stand a fighting chance.

Keith tailed one of the assassin wings and was rapidly losing him. It was too fast to keep up with. Keith opened fire and nicked the fighter's left wing eight times. The ninth caused an explosion and the ship's wing went one way while the flaming fighter went careening into a frigate. The frigate erupted, the explosion enveloping three more fighters. Eight fighters remained with six frigates left. Keith gritted his teeth and conducted an attack run on the frigates again flying head long at them firing round after round into them. Lasers hammered into the formation of frigates. Three erupted. Castor took out another four fighters with a stagnant torpedo which they crashed into involuntarily. The empire lacked sorely in pilot skills and trained reflexes. The Federation actually trained pilots for thousands of situations such as how to deal with superior firepower, speed, skill, and numbers. They were even trained in ground combat and marine invasion drills. Enlisted pilots, marines, officers, and soldiers alike were trained to perform exceptionally in the other three fields of warfare while training as a professional in their own field. Meanwhile, the empire simply recruited their forces and gave them run downs on discipline, orders, and how to even use their equipment. What the empire aimed for was sheer bulk force. Finding naturally skilled imperial soldiers weren't rare, but they were far from common. What was worse was that the empire had just a few trillion more enlisted soldiers than the federation. Nothing considerable enough to redeem their lack of specialized training.

Suddenly a series of blue federation laser bolts whizzed over Keith's head taking out the remains of the bombing contingent. None of the imperials could react in time to repel the attack. Keith looked around confused. However his questions were answered as the intercom crackled to life.  
"Blue three, four, and five reporting for duty Blue leader!" Blue three called happily.  
"Blue three, your alright! Haha! You trooping marine!"Keith responded relieved and laughing. Castor was laughing likewise.  
"Thank goodness you're alright you berserking little rogues!" Castor whooped happily.  
"We just felt like dropping by and seeing how the old fools were doing, rotting away over in this corner of the battle." Blue five snickered.  
"Then let's get some action!" Keith said smiling savagely.  
"YES SIR!" the others replied in unison and they formed up before flying headlong at the battle escalating over Kythos 4.

There would only be one way to repel the imperial invasion. Force them to surrender in a show of brute force. Currently, the Auroran Federation was reinforcing their defense of the planet of Kythos 4. The Borialis Imperial fleet was failing to make any headway to the planet's surface. But they were destroying battleship after battleship. Destroyers stood little chance of withstanding the immense fire power being exchanged between the forces. Striking a decisive blow would be difficult in this kind of combat. Keith rubbed his forehead and thought hard as blue squadron rocketed towards the frey over Kythos 4. Staying alive in that kind of skirmish in a fighter squadron would be nearly impossible let alone fight back. The Federation maximus warships deployed to reinforce were already crumbling. The empire was suffering just as badly. Their own forces were smoldering. At least a hundred battleships were possibly destroyed with more possibly too mutilated by cannonades of laser fire to discern whether they were destroyers, battleships, or gunboats. All that was left of the ships were blue or green hunks of laser scarred armor and molten metal. Federation Maximus warships were arriving on all sides bombarding imperial forces from all sides. The decimated fleet defending Kythos 4 was trying to rally in light of the fact that they were still receiving heavy fire. Auroran Federation reinforcements finally were arriving from all over the system to engage the imperial forces present. Keith and his fighter squadron were among them. Suddenly Keith had an idea. It was risky but it just might work.  
"I have a plan, but it's risky."Keith sighed  
"Aw come on Keith, give yourself some credit. We've survived your previous ideas without a scratch." Castor joked.  
"Barely..." blue four mumbled.


	5. Chapter 5 Stargate Access Denied

Sam knew something about this expedition through the uncharted Fortieth stargate was going to go wrong. A gut feeling more or less so. Not impending doom, but something about this mission definitely seemed wrong. The entire research party was assembled at the gate ramp as engineers and technicians began prepping the stargate to energize. Jack and Daniel were out an a diplomatic mission evacuating refugees from a Goa'Uld occupation. This Fortieth system with a stargate, if the planet was hospitable, would be excellent for colonization by these refugees. At least Teal'c was coming. Everyone else was unfamiliar.

They had sent a probe before but the signal was too faint to tell what was there. Too much Haze and dust. Now they were resorting to scout and report reconaisance.  
"Everyone Ready?" Carter asked. The party had all put on their gear and activated their space suits. There was no telling what kind of planetary atmosphere was on the other side. Teal'c checked his jaffa staff solemnly. Carter sighed. Daniel or Jack would make lightening the mood actually possible. She missed the sarcastic humor. It was annoying but it was better than this detatched silence.

"Gate activated."one of the technicians reported. In the overlooking computer room, commander George Hammond was watching carefully as the gate sloshed to life and proceeded to softly ripple.  
"Alright Carter, you're clear to proceed." Hammond said over the intercom before sighing. The technician looked up at the commander.  
"Something wrong sir?" the technician asked.  
"Something just doesn't feel right..." he said watching the team of researchers. Carter glanced to the others and Teal'c nodded to her and she turned back to the gate taking a deep breathe.  
"Lets go."

"All scientists report to the cargo hold. Foreign transporter is engaging with unidentified counterpart. Marines prepare to engage extraterrestrial travelers. Travelers may be hostile. Present them with force but do not open fire. Repeat, do not open fire." The sexy computer announced.  
"Move move move!" marine COs ordered as they lead their platoons into the cargo bay, laser rifles held to their shoulders as they arrayed before the gate. The Scientists had completely relieved the ring from the rock and had redesigned the entire interior of the cargo bay into a command center with commander Rip Shoulders permission. They had constructed a stand of sorts to hold the ring upright with monitors and computing systems surrounding the gate. Power cords were attached haphazardly around the ring at each of the seven triangular locking points.

Energy rippled across inside of the gate as Jefraim, Teh'kor, and Royce ran into the holding bay. Scientists were scrambling at monitors as sirens wailed over head and red lights flashed throughout the battleship. Commander Rip Shoulders was standing behind one of the computer monitors with a scientist seated at it with his arms folded.  
"Commander, we came as soon as we heard." Jefraim said panting trying to catch his breathe.  
"I only have one question for you Jefraim. Have your four weeks of studying these runes payed off enough to prevent these travelers from entering our ship?" he asked bluntly. Jefraim smiled.  
"We're ready," he said and turned to the scientist at the monitor."Set the stargate coordinates to a random location. It'll disrupt the wormhole link between our gates causing an emergency shut down to prevent energy overloading. It will prevent them from establishing any connection to us for approximately a capital week as the network between our gates reboots. That will give us time to compile our own scouting force and send our boys into their world."  
"Yes sir." the scientist replied complying with the orders.  
"Prepare to enter coordinates!" another announced as the scientists hurried to their stations around the room.  
"Hold steady!" Rip Shoulders barked as the line of marines wavered, soldiers nervously glancing to one another. The ring's inner ring began to spin as it prepared to set coordinates.  
"Coordinates entered! Initiating wormhole connection!" one of the technicians called.  
"Energy in gate surmounting capabilities!" another reported.  
"How much more can we sustain without damaging the gate?" Royce asked over his shoulder.  
"We can safely contain thirty percent overload sir!" one responded.  
"How much will it take to shut down the connection?" Rip Shoulders asked pulling out his Laser sub-machine gun and aimed it at the gate.  
"Not sure sir. There's no clear shut down point mentioned in the description of the stargates the Pri'yin had given us." Jefraim said standing over a monitor displaying the percentage of overload sustained by the gate.  
"Only a matter of time. Just a matter of time."Jefraim said grimacing.

Suddenly a warning flashed on one of the computer monitors in Stargate Command. George Hammond squinted at it as he read the warning flashing on the screen.

"Wormhole energy overloading".

Commander Hammond looked up in horror as the research team walked towards the gate.  
"Officer, why is the connection overloading?" Hammond asked.  
"I-I-I don't have a clue sir." he stammered trying to disengage the connection to no avail. Hammond activated the intercom.  
"SAM! GET AWAY FROM THE GATE NOW!" he ordered over the intercom system. The team backed away from the gate confused at the order. Almost on cue, the energy began sloshing back and forth within the ring like the waves of a raging ocean. Sam starred with horror as the stone gate shuddered under the energy sloshing back and forth across the ring. Emergency sirens wailed and soldiers marched into the room, weapons aimed at the gate.  
"Commander, what is going on here?" Sam asked into her shoulder com.  
"We seem to be experiencing an over load of energy being activated from the other side of the wormhole. We're trying to shut it down before the gate loses integrity cutting us off completely from the evac team. Stand by." Hammond said in response. Sam looked back at the gate.

Suddenly the gate fizzled out. No warning. No sign of any change in state. Just gone. Hammond starred at the monitor as the status flashed on the screen.

"Wormhole Coordinate Temporarily shut down"

"What?" Hammond asked. The technician shook his head apologetically.  
"I don't understand sir."  
"Try re-entering those coordinates." Hammond ordered. The technician complied but before the ring could start moving, all seven locking mechanisms turned red and faded back to orange.  
"Try entering another set of coordinates." Hammond ordered getting slightly nervous. The Technician complied and the inner ring spun into action and energy erupted and stabilized within the gate.  
"Uh, it worked sir." the technician shrugged.  
"Enter the other coordinates again." Hammond said. The energy fizzled away and the locks flashed red again fading back to their normal orange color.  
"It seems like that red flash is the ancients way of saying access denied."Hammond said with a sigh.

Meanwhile in the federation battleship Flaming Eagle, the tension had drastically subsided as the energy had fizzled away. Jefraim sighed a sigh of relief as did almost everyone on board.  
"Royce, what were the coordinate symbols of the system activating the wormhole?" Jefraim asked.  
"Why would we need to know that?" Royce asked puzzled.  
"Because I think I know where our first destination through the stargate is going to be."


	6. Chapter 6 War Maiden

"So what is this 'oh so risky' plan we're going to execute anyway?"asked blue four.  
"You remember the thing we did back a few weeks where we docked and boarded that smoldering gunboat over Kythos 3 right?" Castor asked already onto Keith's train of thought.  
"You're kidding! We barely stood a chance when we hot wired that pile of junk! No gunboat would survive this kind of combat!" Blue three objected.  
"That's why we're not going to be hijacking a gunboat," Keith said solemnly."Our target this time is an Imperial Maximus Warship."  
"What!?" the rest of the squadron objected.  
"Keith, even if we could dock on board one of those behemoths, we wouldn't stand a chance!"Blue five objected.  
"We're not marines! And even marines couldn't capture a Maximus Warship with only five of troopers! It's impossible! There are too many crew members armed to the teeth, let alone the actual on board boarding defense marines stationed on board in the thousands! We're just a handful of pilots-"  
"Who are trained in executing commando operations," Keith finished sternly."I will not take 'no' for an answer. Follow my orders and we can subdue the crew and take control of the entire warship. Don't, and you'll jeopardize the success of the entire operation. Do I make myself clear?"  
"Sir, yes sir!" They replied in unison.  
"Alright, form up on my tail, we'll land in the hanger bay closest to the bridge." Keith ordered.  
"Keith, how in blazes are we supposed to land in an enemy hanger bay?" asked blue three.  
"Cut the chatter blue three." blue four interrupted.  
"Enemy fighters arraying in attack position on our four." blue five announced. Sure enough, a squadron of imperial fighters were forming up to engage blue squadron in a dog fight.  
"Blue three four and five proceed to lock down the hangar bay. Castor and I will cover you." Keith said flipping a row of switches engaging his vertical thrusters.  
"Yes sir." they responded  
"Castor, we need to initiate a diversion. Those boys need to concentrate on landing in the hangar bay without getting taken out by an anti fighter-turret." Keith said.  
"Right behind you." Castor replied pulling up behind Keith. They swooped around flying headlong towards the imperial squadron firing haphazardly into the formation. The squadron broke formation before they could get nicked by one of the bolts. Keith tore off in pursuit narrowly dodging the laser fire being exchanged by a pair of smoldering battleships. Neither were fairing to well against the guns of the other. Fighters wove and dove after one another in close quarters dog-fighting. One stray cannon bolt nicked the wing of Keith's fighter sparking an explosion that knocked his ship off course. The bolt exploded from the contact scarring Keith's wing badly. His armor sensors were reporting fifty percent of his armor was destroyed of his left wing.  
"Damn..."Keith grumbled. He couldn't allow another shot to hit that wing otherwise he would be one wing short of two. And that could cost him more than his ship.  
"Keith, are you alright?" Castor asked sensing Keith's tension rising.  
"Just a scratch to my left wing. Just a scratch." Keith said pulling up and around firing a spray of laser fire into an imperial fighter pursuing him. He swerved to dodge the wreckage of a federation fighter careening into the side of one of the battleships. He looked up and saw the assailant of the fighter pass over head and send another federation fighter up in flames. Keith glared and flew after the imperial fighter, anger smoldering within him. He shut off his auto-lock-on. If this pilot was any good, he would be used to evading fighter lock-ons. Keith was better at dog fighting without that nonsense distracting him anyway. He felt his way through the strings of laser fire pursuing the imperial trying to get their attention. If he was going to fight this one, it would be a fair fight. A pilot of their caliber was worthy of a fighting chance. The pilot caught on quickly and pulled up trying to come up and over Keith to open fire on his tail. Keith smirked realizing that the borialis scum underestimated Keith completely and rolled left totally confusing the other pilot completely. When the other pilot leveled out Keith was nowhere in their sight. Suddenly he emerged out of a cloud of debris guns blazing. The imperial swerved out of the way sustaining minor damage to their wings and came up at Keith from his underside firing everything they had. Keith dodged the parry unprepared for that course of action and rolled over diving headlong at the enemy fighter. Both exchanged ceaseless laser fire hitting one another repeatedly lasers being absorbed by their ion shields rippling to absorb the impact. Their shields quickly were overwhelmed allowing lasers to pass through and leave damage on their armor. Lasers bounced and flashed against the armor leaving sizable dents.

"Argh!" Keith grunted as his wing gave way to the laser fire and erupted in flame, smoke pouring from the damage. Keith continued firing taking out the other pilot's left wing and engine as he swerved away to prevent further damage to the remaining section of his craft. Both were damaged beyond efficiency but could still land. As Keith pulled away he got one good look at the pilot. And what he saw startled him to the core. The pilot wasn't male like he had thought the entire time he was fighting. It was a girl. He had heard rumors that the empire banned females from any profession in the military. But Keith saw the pilot so clearly that there seemed no way that he could have been mistaken. A female Imperial pilot.


	7. Chapter 7 Burning Victory

Keith ducked for cover as a squad of imperial marines marched by their hallway searching for the Auroran intruders. When the squad had passed, Keith nodded to the rest of blue squadron and they stole down the dark green hallway that led to the bridge. They had already been spotted and marines were scrambling throughout the ship to find them. Keith glanced to Castor who nodded reading Keith's mind and signaled the others to stay put until they were sure the coast was clear. Keith aimed his weapon down every hallway they passed while Castor ran over to the main elevator shaft which ran all the way to the bridge. He found a crate to use as cover while Keith locked down the rest of the hallway.

Finally Keith turned to the other three and gave a nod. The three ran stealthily down the hall to the elevator where Keith and Castor were waiting for them. Castor slammed a fist down on the elevator button and the doors slid open. The five of them dashed in and only relaxed after the doors had closed.  
"They know we're here." Blue three murmured.  
"Good. We'll get to claim this hunk of junk fair and square." Blue four grumbled.  
"Keith, They're bound to have a trap waiting for us when we get up there."Blue five added.  
"Well, what are we gonna do about it Keith?" Castor asked already knowing the answer.  
"Spring the trap."Keith grinned and reloaded his laser machine gun. The other three gawked at Keith.  
"You're Insane!"Blue five objected.  
"I know what I'm doing. You three will take defensive positions while Castor and I cover you from the elevator. Once you're ready, the three of you will lay down suppressive fire while Castor and I sweep through the bridge taking out all resistance." Keith said authoritatively.  
"Why am I getting thrown into this?" Castor asked already knowing the answer. Keith just grinned.

Suddenly the elevator doors slid open and laser fire erupted from every corner of the bridge. Keith and Castor lifted their guns to their shoulders simultaneously opening fire as they took cover in the doorway laying down heavy covering fire for the rest of the squadron. Meanwhile, the other three ran for cover to provide their own fire from the semi-safe vantage point of the upper bridge deck over looking the rest of the bridge. The Imperial officers were far too sloppy and were easy targets. Keith had filled at least four of them with holes. One of the problems with imperial weaponry was that it specialized strictly in bulk. Accuracy wasn't a concern for non-sniper class troops. The Imperial marines however were formidable and forced Keith and Castor to cease firing every few minutes. The imperial's were trying to make headway up the stairs on either side of the upper bridge. Keith let loose a string of fire into a marine as he tried to make his way up the stairs. The body slid back down discouraging the other marines to go up.  
"When are you three going to finish getting comfy up there?" Keith called over the din of laser fire.  
"Ready sir!" One of them replied.  
"Bout time."Castor grumbled and both of them abandoned the elevator while the three pilots opened fire on the lower deck to divert the attention of the imperials with an ambush. Keith jumped down the flight of stairs catching an imperial officer by surprise and fired a series of rounds into the soldier at point blank. Castor had mirrored his movements down the stairs before rolling and coming up on one knee firing and taking out a number of imperial marines. Keith spun around a row of computers and opened fire on a pair of officers sending them reeling backwards. They took cover side by side and reloaded before ducking out from behind their cover and engaged more imperial resistance on either side opening fire on them without hesitation. Keith barrel rolled to a monitor and used it for cover as he took out an imperial marine sending him sprawling backwards. Castor slammed the butt of his gun into the back of a marine as he passed him and spun around shooting the marine in the back.

When they had reached the last row of computers they caught the remnants and the warship admiral in a crossfire leaving no survivors. Keith turned and headed up to the command chair.  
"Everyone activate you're oxygen tanks. Blue five, shut down all life support systems on board." Keith ordered.  
"Yes sir!"  
"Blue three, shut down all turrets and switch them to bridge command"-blue three nodded and ran over to a monitor-"Blue four? Shut down all communication channels and open up a frequency with the Reigning Maiden. I don't want any friendly fire ending or stay onboard. Castor?" Keith asked. Castor nodded reading Keith's mind and converted all engine power to sheilds.  
"Keith! incoming imperial Transmission! I can't seem to cut the frequency!"Blue four announced in a slight panic.  
"Let it through blue four. Talking will give us some time to get in position."Keith replied calmly with a smirk as he sat himself down in the commander's chair. Blue four nodded and turned back to the comunications monitor.  
"Comunications open. We're online Keith." Blue four shrugged.

The large screen mounted from the ceiling fizzled on and an Imperial commander appeared surrounded by officers at monitors at what appeared to be a bridge. The commander wore the dark green uniform of the empire with medal segments covering every inch of his chest like a breast plate.  
"Captain Theorda, report on the intruders and tell me why are your life supports deactivated- who IN CREATION ARE YOU?" The commander ordered as he realized that the bridge he was seeing was really a slaughter pen with four helmeted pilots manning the monitors and another lounging in the commander's chair.  
"Keith Roiker, 'commander' of this dark green weapon of war. I must thank you again for the accommodations however I apologize for the inconvenience of disposing of your crew. Messy job really. I'll have to clean up this mess when I get around to it." Keith said looking around himself at the carnage.  
"You..."the commander growled as his anger seethed inside of his decorated uniform,"You're Commander Roiker's kid. Commander_ Backstab_ Roiker!" Keith's jovial demeanor turned cold as ice.  
"Damn straight, scum." Keith replied.  
"Imagine what kind of honor I'll receive for killing the son of commander _Backstab."_ He said almost greedily.  
"The honor of of being vengefully obliterated by the Empire's scourge."Keith replied. Everyone on the other bridge went pale.  
"Over protective father I see?" The commander chuckled.  
"Seriously? You'll never get the mercy of such a demise. The Imperial Scourge is sitting right here, you coward." Keith growled. The other commander glared.  
"We'll see." The commander replied equally as viciously. The connection cut out and the screen remained blank.

The other pilots looked at Keith nervously. His eyes were fixed on the battle ensuing outside. Only he wasn't seeing the battle. He was _planning_ it.  
"Sir?"blue three asked nervously.  
"Set all weapons to commander control." Keith ordered, his thoughts uninterrupted by blue three's disposition. Castor complied immediately. A pair of handle's with large hand-guards slid up from either arm of the command chair. Both handles were situated horizontally in the arms of the chair. The one on the left commanded the port side guns and the ones on the right commanded the starboard guns. A visor slid across his eyes with two pairs of cross-hairs signifying each denoted set of weapons. The insides of the hand guards contained a series of buttons that activated all sorts of missiles and specialized weaponry.

"Weapons set."Castor confirmed from his monitor.  
"Convert all fore and aft shields to port and starboard. Set all Anti fighter turrets to auto defense. Plot a course for 00954317692." Keith ordered.  
"Sir, that will put us directly in the middle of the imperial fleet!"Blue five protested.  
"That's the general idea."Keith replied firmly. Blue five just stared.  
"Course plotted."Blue three announced.  
"Stand by to engage."Keith said fixing his eyes on the point to where they were headed. Imperial forces were too busy combating the Auroran defense fleet to pay attention to Keith's hijacked vessel turning around and facing it's old allies under a new master.  
"T minus eight decicarsens and counting."Blue four said nervously staring out of the bridge window. The covert warship glided between a pair of imperial battleships unhindered.  
"So far so good." Blue three mumbled.  
"Aw, screw that." Keith grinned and slid his hands into the gauntlets and opened fire on the battle ships they were passing. The vessels didn't have a chance to fire back as they were crushed by the repetitive bombardments of laser cannon fire.  
"Keith! What are you doing?" Blue five screamed.  
"It's called a surprise attack for a reason."Castor smirked and began assessing sensor reports.  
"Well you're not supposed to surprise your own crew!"Blue five objected. Keith ignored what was taking place on the bridge and diverted half of the laser batteries on both sides to Castor's control. Castor nodded and took over his half of the cannons entering attack orders for his half of the cannons to fire on a formation of incoming destroyers. Imperial warships were trying to make sense of what just happened. Some were opening fire on blue squadrons behemoth while others ceased firing altogether trying to make a decision of what to do.  
"How are our shields holding up?" Keith asked.  
"98 percent and holding."Blue four reported.  
"Convert power from engines to shields."Keith ordered. Suddenly the warship shuddered as a bombardment of lasers slammed their portside prow. In front of them rested the maximus warship _ I.N.S Tervian_. And Keith had more than a hunch that he had just talked to the commander on board.

The _Tervian_ opened fire first slamming Keith's vessel on the starboard side with volley after volley of laser fire. The entire warship shuddered under the sudden impact and Some of the wall monitors burst with sparks flying everywhere. Blue squadron had to brace themselves from the impact in order to maintain their footing. Keith Recovered from the impact first and returned fire with everything at his disposal. Imperial fighters swarmed over the warship trying to leave a dent in the massive ship. The anti fighter turrets were being taken out one by one simply by sheer masses of imperial fighters.  
"Shields at fifty percent and holding!"Blue four called out over the din of explosions.  
"Transfer all hyperspace power to shields blue four, this will be this maximus warships last day in commission. Blue three, see what you can do about those anti fighter turrets. We're losing them by the bucket load." Keith ordered plainly as if there wasn't a battle going on outside. The _Tervian_ came along the broadside of Keith's warship and the two battle ships traded volleys of cannon fire. Keith then did a very underhanded course of action and focused all of his guns on the _Tervian's_ bridge. The stout tower at the rear of the other maximus warship Erupted into flames causing a chain reaction followed by an explosion at the rear which made it's way to the front consuming everything in it's path. The explosion sent pieces of metal and ship parts hurtling against the side of Keith's ship as it pulled away from the smoldering wreckage. It was a massive blow to the imperial navy to have one of their own destroy one of their own. Keith began firing at every nearby vessel sending it up in flames while severing battleships and destroyers in two.

Imperials were rushing now to compensate for the traitorous warship by destroying it only to be blasted apart or vaporized in the effort. Keith's vessel wasn't doing well either. They were steadily running out of power and their rockets were running out quickly.  
"Sir, Shields at fifteen percent and falling."Blue four announced with panic in his voice.  
"Damn." Keith swore. Their shields were what was keeping the cannon fire from hitting the bridge. Without their sheilds up they'd be fair game for pot shots.  
"Keith, heavy damage on our port side."Castor called. The warship shook violently under the damage and sirens began to wail overhead. All of the monitors were flashing red caution symbols in the bottom right corners. A small plume of flame erupted on the forward port side.  
"Shields are down."Castor announced. Every laser that was being fired at the warship began to directly hammer the hull with repetitive abuse. Chunks of ship cracked and fell from the ceiling sending sparks everywhere. There were only a handful of cannons left still operating. Castor switched all of the cannons back to commander resumed command of all cannons and returned fire with everything he had left. He had taken out another pair of maximus warships and was taking down a fourth. The armor would hold the damage for quite a while.  
"Keith we have to get out of here!"Blue five yelled as debris exploded from one of the walls.  
"Get to your fighters or an escape pod, this commander's chair is an escape pod in and of itself. I don't have a fighter anymore and my escape pod is this chair. You're the ones that need to hurry." Keith replied activating the command chair's escape pod function. Castor nodded and led blue squadron out of the bridge hunched low dodging the debris falling from the ceiling. As the rest of the squadron entered the elevator, Keith was being surrounded by a capsule of metal with a series of computers and monitors. The capsule had a glass alloy windshield for basic navigation and the escape pod walls were at least two feet thick. It would hold together during jettison well enough to protect him from the warship exploding. Keith still had control of the ship until until it finally blasted apart so he decided to make the best of what he had left. He just hoped Castor and the team would make it out in time.

Keith angled the mammoth weapon of war directly head on at the bulk concentration of the imperial fleet. All but a handful of cannons still had ammo and were firing everything left on board that wasn't already destroyed. With a jolt his shields gave out as well as the the auxiliary thrusters so that all that was keeping Keith traveling towards was momentum and secondary boosters. Every monitor was flashing emergency symbols on the bridge as Keith's warship inched it's way towards the imperial bulk of ships. Imperial battleships blazed away at the traitorous vessel trying to destroy it in it's weakened state. Explosions erupted everywhere on the surface of the Maximus Warship, Causing systems malfunctions and errors to pop up all over the bridge. A loud explosion erupted as one of the pursuing battleships fired a fatal hit on the port side causing massive hull damage. The warship was breaking apart, only Keith had gotten a little practice flying crumbling crafts earlier. It was a now or never situation. More and more enemy battleships were joining the retaliation. The Federation had caught on to what was happening and took advantage of the distraction wiping out dozens of imperial vessels in an effort to help the defecting ship. But Keith had an even bigger plan and it was about to work. He was now directly within the highest concentration of imperials now as the explosions began to blur into one blinding eruption. Keith strained to see his target through the haze of smoke, debris, and eruptions of fire.

Then without warning, he slammed and crunched through the side of another imperial Maximus Warship right in front of the engines triggering an enormous explosion by piercing the highly volatile fuel concentrator. Keith's escape pod automatically jettisoned and he maneuvered away from the destruction towards an Auroran Battleship. A massive blast wave spread and cut it's way through the bulk of the imperial fleet destroying one major vessel after another leaving no surviving imperial vessels in it's path. The blast was answered by other smaller explosions of other ships as it swept through the imperial masses. As Keith steered clear he set a course for the Reigning maiden. At least 200,000 imperial vessels were wiped out in the blast and half of the attack fleet was already destroyed by the Imperials were outnumbered and exhausted. There was nothing for them to do but retreat. The imperial remnants of the attack turned around and began to hyperspace out of the Kythos system. Federation forces picked off a good number of the escaping craft before they could escape to the designated system. The battle for Kythos was over. The Federation Imperial war however would begin to demand action from the rest of the galaxy.

Keith flew his pod into one of the side hangar bays and touched down in the middle of dozens of marines, mechanics, pilots, and even officers cheering and hollering to one another with toasts and congratulations. The spirit of victory was in the air. Keith was tempted to join in but there were more important things to attend to. He ran down the hallways to the elevator accidentally pushing a marine into a wall who was too drunk thankfully to notice he'd been pushed. Keith didn't stop running and sprinted through a group of officers discussing what might happen now that they had won the battle for Kythos. He skidded into an elevator which carried him up to the top deck and sprinted over to the bridge. The metal doors slid out of his way just in time as he tore into the bridge. He looked around and found Commander Rigid back standing in front of the bridge window, gazing out at the federation fleet firing victory rounds into space.  
"Commander, have you seen-"Keith began but Rigid Back held up a hand. Then, the commander turned and Keith could actually see the man's eyes. They had a hollow, defeated look to them. Sad.  
"Keith," the commander began and sighed before continuing."We have confirmed reports that you captured an enemy Borialis maximus warship and successfully repelled the Borialis invasion. Your efforts did the Federation a great service and allowed our navy to strike back with enough force to send the imperials in full retreat. It is with great honor, that I promote you to Freelance Officer of by the authority bestowed to me by the Auroran Federation."  
"Commander, thank you, but what's wrong?" Keith asked confused. The commander cringed slightly.  
"Commander-" Keith tried to repeat but the commander replied.  
"Keith, understand that I am not authorized to display my emotions to you by Federation regulation and that I truly am sincerely sorry."The commander began."But I must maintain federation regulation regardless."  
"Keith Roiker, It is with great regret that I inform you that during the battle for Kythos, your fellow pilots of blue squadron were killed trying to escape the Maximus Warship. From this point onward, Blue Squadron is hereby classified as Terminated in the line of duty."

Keith stared at his hands. Terminated. He had sent his closest friends to their deaths. He ordered them to abandon ship and they died complying with _his_ orders. If he had thought of letting them pile inside the commander escape pod they might still be hear. But now they were dead. His eyes locked on the floor as his mind began to race. There were so many opportunities that he could have done something, _anything._ He Should have done something, anything then what he did!  
"Regardless of the current situation, the Federation scheduled you to speak with the bureaucrats on Sen'Tral. Your grief recess will have to be canceled. I am truly sorry-"The commander added but Keith turned away.  
"I understand. I'll be ready for transport in 10. Duty calls. Nothing I can do to help it."Keith said walking over to the bridge door with only half of his attention present.  
"Keith,"The commander said and Keith stopped in the doorway."I wish there were something I could do."  
"What should have been done didn't happen. Anything that could be done is too late now. Dead is dead. Nothing can change that now. nothing."Keith sighed and left the bridge, silencing the commotion of victory with the silence of sorrow. Keith lost four people under his command that day. However they would be far from the last.


	8. Chapter 8 Home with half your heart

The flight back to Sen'Tral was far too short. Keith had next to nothing for time to himself. The shuttle was full of wounded in the bottom deck hooked up to stasis chambers while the top deck was crowded with soldiers heading home on leave. Keith however wouldn't get any such rest. He hung his head, hands folded on his knees thinking through all of the possible ways that blue squadron could have avoided getting killed. But after he realized that everything he was coming up with would have worked, It began to sink in that he was dwelling on biased solutions, some of them looked at far too optimistically. He rubbed his eyes as they came out of the sector gate wormhole and gazed at the seething deep blue planet of Sen'Tral. It's vast oceans were covered by blotches of cities and green luscious jungles. Large agro bulbs (spherical agricultural structures for producing fruits and vegetables designed to be left at sea for periods of time and harvested in bulk) floated in the fresh water seas and oceans. Sen'Tral was by far, the second most populated planet in the galaxy, Second to the neutral planetary district of Humanity, a man made moon of city populated by almost every intelligent culture in the galaxy. Trillions of vessels swarmed through out the system intermingled with advisory military warships positioned through out, maintaining a watchful eye on the populace.

Suddenly a small fleet of pirates hyper-spaced in and began opening fire on almost any ship in sight. Dozens of civilian ships rallied to the aid of the Federation warships as the pirates attempted to attack.

"Hey, what's going on out there?" One of the soldiers asked.

"They've been doing that ever since word got out that the Federation whooped the Empire over Kythos. They think the federation is changing the guard to get the weaker boys to the rear area And put the stronger ones on the front. Only we hadn't really thought that far ahead. So they're getting surprised pretty easily and don't stay long. Word probably hasn't gotten back to their dispatch station yet wherever it's at cause they're still coming in wave attack patterns." The Shuttle pilot said casually as he wove through the chaos towards the planet of jokes about the pirate attacks quickly were sent back and forth returned by laughter and cheers for the Auroran Federation. Keith stayed out of it and stared out of his view port window as they descended into one of the planet's numerous cities covering the surface. In any other instance, he would have joined in. Only he wasn't really feeling up to it.

The landing was smooth and easy. The rear wall split open and slid aside as the soldiers walked onto the landing platform. Keith shouldered his bag of belongings and walked into the city. It was rather nice to be somewhere warm again. Somewhere that at least had a sun anyway. After checking in at the initialization panel, he made his way over to one of the glass buildings the platform was adjoined to the landing pad and followed the others to find a inter city taxi. The terminal was swarming with everyday people. Some were busy trying to get to work, others were reading the headlines of the federation victory over Kythos waiting for the inter-metro shuttle to their destinations. Keith stood at the edge of the platform, wearing his blue camouflage uniform and blast proof vest. All of the soldiers wore it coming home since it was a sign of honor. And it got free rounds of drinks at some of the local bars.

He set his bag on the floor and put his hands in his pockets, watching the news updates on the federation victory on the transparent walls overlooking the beautiful ocean, foliage clinging to the walls to get a better position in the sun. He sighed sadly as he saw his military picture flash across as it's own article. How he struck a decisive blow to the Empire when he hijacked an enemy warship and led the daring move that forced the Imperial fleet to retreat. Each article was four heros short of the full story. The media would hammer him when he arrived at the galactic house.

A gentle tug on his pant leg caused him to turn around and find a five year old boy looking up at him, hands folded behind himself shyly.

"Are you a real soldier?"The boy asked pointing at the news walls with his picture on them. Keith looked over his shoulder at the articles about himself and got down on one knee so he was eye level with the boy and looked over the child's shoulder. His mother was sitting on a bench smiling hands folded over her knee. Her husband was seated next to her one arm around her shoulder beaming at his son, happy to be home. From his clothes, he appeared to be a Federation marine. Keith looked back to the boy and smiled.

"For what it's worth, yeah. You could say that." he said smiling.

"Like my daddy?" the boy asked.

"Like your daddy." Keith replied.

"Then why aren't you happy like daddy is?" the boy asked, reading Keith's emotions perfectly. Keith sighed and shook his head.

"I lost some friends back there." Keith said honestly pointing at the news articles on the battle for Kythos.

"And you won't see em' again, will you?" the boy asked, saying it more like a statement.

"No I won't see them again."Keith admitted.

"Daddy felt that way too once. But he got better. He isn't all better, but he is better." the boy said in his own way, hesitating on the phrases that repeated. Keith paused for a moment and looked back at the boy.

"You'll get better." the boy said certainly and walked back over to his parents. Keith met the eyes of the boys father. There was a pause of silence between Keith and the marine.

"Welcome home kid." The father said with a sincere nod.

"Good to be back." Keith replied solemnly and nodded in return before turning, picking up his belongings bag, and heading over to the inter-metropolis shuttle he was waiting for. He got on with around a dozen other soldiers and almost a hundred commoners, all headed for the capital city of New Citadel.

He got on board and grabbed onto one of the support rungs as the long slender vessel began to fill up. People began instantly recognizing him from the articles but when they saw he wasn't in a good mood of any sort, they refrained from interacting with him. However some were calling friends telling them they were on the same shuttle as Keith Roiker which was pretty cool considering that he was on the news the same minute as they were standing next to him. However he was far from enjoying all of the attention. News reporters would bombard him when he would arrive. Then out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a familiar face.

"Jefraim?"Keith asked slightly stunned. Jefraim smiled and got up from one of the seats and strode over to him.

"How did you know what shuttle I was?" Keith asked to Jefraim's amusement.

" Actually I was hoping to meet you on the landing platform but we experienced a technical difficulty when we were relocating Stargate to it's new home New Citadel. I looked up in the landing records the current military arrivals and your name was already registered as landed and accounted for in this city. And since this city only has one shuttle directly to the capital, There would be a slim chance that I'd miss you. Sorry to hear about what happened back there by the way. You alright?"Jefraim asked, his mood changing to serious.

"I just wish that I could have done something." Keith said reminiscing over the scenarios he'd come up with.

"Keith, everyone in the Federation Armed forces has experienced the loss of buddies to the war."Jefraim said knowingly.

"Yeah? You're in the science division, what would you know?" Keith fired back.

"I wasn't always in the science division. I used to be a marine. You know that much. But the reason why I transferred to the science division is little known." Jefraim said seriously.

"Then why?" Keith asked still rattled.

"The Federation was conducting a routine raid on one of the nearby Imperial outposts. My team and I were deployed to the surface to shut down a research facility developing faster and more effective weapons batteries for warship installment. We captured the information alright. Numerous reports were coming in that teams were being ambushed on the other side of the compound. I thought since we were south of the conflict that we could reach the lift point without any trouble. Well, we got slammed by a crossfire of imperial remnants and lost half of our contingency. I lost every man in my platoon that day. Because I ignored the danger, it bit me in the back. From then on, I refused to lead combat encounters. I transferred to the science division to get away from the frontline." Jefraim said. Keith stared.

"Keith, there are some things we can't stop, no matter how many excuses we make for ourselves. Blue squadron was a part of you that was ripped away heartlessly by war. Giving a heartless verdict of failure to yourself doesn't help matters. War is heartless enough without your problems adding to the fact." Jefraim said laying a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith sighed and looked back at Jefraim.

"So why exactly do I need to show up to this political nonsense?" Keith asked focusing on the problem at hand.

"The Federation has gathered together the ambassadors from all corners of the galaxy to ask for their allegiance. They want you to represent the federation's victory over Kythos." Jefraim said bluntly.

"Why me?" Keith asked.

"You spearheaded the attack with your hijacked Maximus Warship." Jefraim pointed out. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Do your job and everyone wants to hear about it." He mumbled. Jefraim grinned.

"That was more than your job specified you have to admit." Jefraim said jokingly.

"War has no rules, let alone job specifications. My job was to by any reasonable means necessary, repel the invasion. I did." Keith stated.

"They were expecting you to do your part in a fighter." Jefraim reminded blatantly.

"So they just want me to throw in some good words and get everybody to help the federation?"Keith asked.

"As many as possible. Or at least, that's the hope." Jefraim shrugged.

"Let me guess, no preassure?" Keith asked simply.

"Actually compared to previous adventures, no. There's a lot of pressure. Considering this may very well spark galactic civil war." Jefraim said nervously.

"Lucky me." Keith mummbled shrugging


End file.
